Parents 'can't sleep' after teenage sons stabbed outside Tesco in Lewes

Sussex Police detectives are looking to identify two people as part of an investigation where two teenage boys were stabbed and one was assaulted outside the Brooks Road supermarket at around 11.15pm on Saturday, August 20.

One parent said: “All I remember was going into Tesco and seeing this carnage of ambulances and police cars and thinking ‘this can't be for my son?’

“I was in shock, shaking, trying to work out what was going on. I had in my head that I was going to take him, even when he was in the ambulance being checked over, it hadn't dawned on me that he needed to go to hospital.

“When the ambulance driver told me to put my seatbelt on, my first reaction was ‘are we going somewhere?' it still hadn't registered, then all of a sudden we were in the hospital in Brighton.

“I was in a state of not really realising what had happened, I could not get my head round that one minute they were out and then next we were in hospital.”

Since the event, the parent says her son has been ‘knackered and depressed’, stating they had not been able to sleep properly for nine weeks.

They said: “I keep saying that he is fine, but he is not. I can see now the impact that it is had, it is coming out psychologically.

“He is not sleeping well, he is knackered and depressed. He had joined a gym, so when he was going to bed earlier and getting up later I assumed it was because he was tired from that. It suddenly dawned on me that it was connected and this was the stress coming out.

“He says he is re-creating scenarios in his head about it all, meaning he can’t get off to sleep. It's affecting him without him realising.”

Both people detectives wish to speak to in regards to attack are described as white and in their mid to late teens.

Police said the first suspect was wearing a black zip up hoodie with white sides, dark-coloured trousers and white trainers.

The second suspect was wearing a light-coloured hoodie zipped up and a pair of light-coloured trousers with distinctive large dark-coloured pockets, police said.

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Detective Constable Sarah Pittman said: “This was an unprovoked and nasty attack in which two of the victims were stabbed as well as punched and kicked, the third victim was also punched.

“I am keen to hear from anyone who can identify these people as well as anyone who may have witnessed the incident or have any information in relation to it.”

For the parents of the victim, one said they are now paranoid every time their son leaves the house.

They said: “For me, when my son goes out, it's just constantly worrying about tracking him, where he is, getting him to update me when he has been out and all that kind of thing which I wouldn't have been paranoid about before.

“That’s what's shocked everybody, it just brings it back every time he goes out, it's difficult letting him go.”

Anyone who has information which could help detectives with their investigation is asked by police to report it online or call 101 quoting serial number 1437 of 20/08.

Alternatively this information can be reported to the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously by calling 0800 555111.